1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technology for storing and accessing data in a database-like store using files in a standard file system
2. Description of the Related Art
Computers are common in many workplaces. Employees use computers to perform many facets of their jobs. To increase productivity, groups of people who work together want to share data. For example, when working on a project, various member of the project team may store information as contacts, calendar appointments, notes, tasks and messages associated with the project. Since more than one person can make use of these data items, it is beneficial to the team if the data is shared.
One prior solution to sharing data is to create a central data server. Any of the team members can login or otherwise communicate with the central data server to access the data. However, to share the particular the data among a team, a customized software application with a customized data repository is used. Such customized solutions can be very expensive to build and/or purchase, and may require substantial resources to maintain.
Another solution to sharing data is to use peer-to-peer sharing. For example, a project team member can connect to another project team member and share data However, this solution has its drawbacks. First, it may be difficult for one project team member to find another. Second, it may be very difficult to provide appropriate security and trust with a peer-to-peer sharing mechanism. Third, because the sharing is performed among different pairs of project team members, it may be difficult to identify the most up-to-date set of data.
Thus, a better solution for sharing data is needed.